Two Mile Hollow
by Leah Nanako Winkler
Directed by Carol Ann Tan ‘23 MFA
November 3 – November 13
Stuart Theatre, 75 Waterman Street
When the Donnelly’s gather for a weekend in the country to gather their belongings for their recently sold estate—both an internal storm and a literal storm brews. As this brood of famous, longing-to-be-famous and kind of a mess but totally Caucasian family comes together with their personal assistant, Charlotte, some really really really really really complicated and totally unique secrets are revealed (over white wine). A parody coupled with moments of disorienting sincerity, Two Mile Hollow explores the dysfunctional family genre with brutality, awe and compassion.
Performances
Thursday, November 3: 8PM (Pay What You Can)
Friday, November 4: 8PM
Saturday, November 5: 8PM
Sunday, November 6: 2PM
Thursday, November 10: 8PM
Friday, November 11: 8PM
Saturday, November 12: 8PM
Sunday, November 13: 2PM
𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱*
https://brown.edu/go/tickets/tmh
*Brown will no longer accept cash payments and will not issue physical tickets.
CAST & CREW
Cast:
Shannon Ryu ‘23
Mia Lane ‘24
Sanyu Rajakumar ‘24
Cameron Curney ‘24
Angela Qian ‘24
Crew & Designers:
Stage Manager: Tyler Zickmund ‘22.5
Set Designer: Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald
Costume Designer: Christine Mok ‘13 PhD
Lighting Designer: Autumn Qiu ‘25
Sound Designer: Alex Eizenberg
Props Designer: Meri Madden
Intimacy/Movement Coordinator: Jackie Davis
Composer/Music Direction: Gunnar Manchester
Director’s Note
Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow is, on the one hand, a wild parody of the type of play often revered in the American canon—realistic plays about rich white people with rich white problems, indulging their rich white pain over the course of a single night. But the white people in Two Mile Hollow are not played by white actors; the play’s aggressive, self-aware comedy works only when embodied by actors of color. And this is no small ask to make. Two Mile Hollow covers an impressive range of theatrical genres, demanding a particular irreverence and precision from its performers to shape and land its unpredictable tonal shifts. What results, though, is something rarely seen on the American stage: carte blanche for actors of color to just have fun.
On the other hand, there is Charlotte—the play’s one character of color. Winkler expressly requires the actor playing Charlotte to be Asian American, which raises several complex questions regarding Charlotte’s positionality: What does survival look like for the Asian American woman in predominantly white institutions? How does the Asian American body benefit from a proximity to whiteness? Above all, what is it to take space and make space in a world that was never built for you? In interrogating these questions, Charlotte’s storyline holds the key to transforming Two Mile Hollow from outrageous parody to incisive satire.
Seeing Two Mile Hollow produced as part of the Sock & Buskin season has brought me particular joy. As an undergraduate, I had very limited opportunities to get involved with campus theatre, which is why I am so moved now to witness five undergraduates of color tackle challenging, unapologetic roles written with their identities in mind. Thank you for joining us to share in the work of these young artists—the next generation of the American theatre.
The Brown University Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies’ 2022-2023 production season is generously supported by the Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Theatre Arts Endowment, the Ben Brown Memorial Fund, the Irene Lewisohn and Alice Lewisohn Crowley Endowment, the Julie Adams Strandberg Fund for Dance at Brown, the Sue E. Perlmutter Fund for Dance, the New Plays Festival Endowment,and a bequest from the estate of TAPS Emeritus Professor James O. Barnhill.